Carbon emissions represent a loss to the business which could be costing you money.

Here are five benefits to the business from knowing your carbon footprint:

1. It provides another way to look at your business. Farms with low carbon footprints are often the most efficient and profitable.
2. It gives you a starting point or baseline measurement, helping you to track emissions year on year.
3. It identifies which areas of the farm business are producing most emissions, giving you ideas on which activities to tackle first for maximum savings.
4. It shows how you compare with similar businesses in your sector*. Are you doing really well at something compared to your peers, or are there things which could be done more profitably?
5. It shows your customers that you are taking steps towards low carbon measures and supporting Scotland's climate change ambition.

We have used the free carbon footprinting tool offered by  Agrecalc©; other footprinting tools are available; either way it is important to stick to the same tool so as you can compare year on year changes.

There is a range of practical ways you can reduce emissions on our webpages where you can also find more information about carbon footprinting.  Funding is available to complete a carbon audit through the Scottish Farm Advisory Service.